Child Friendly Villa's - Swimming Pools

I couldn't get this in the Villa section, so I'm posting this here;

Does anyone know of any holiday co's or villa sites, villa's etc that are child-friendly in the sense of secure swimming pools - we have 2 five year-olds that we don't trust around a swimming pool as yet...

Thanks for any pointers.

[HighFlyer]

What do you mean by secure? The Villa's i have used in the past all had an alarm on the living room door so that children could not just wonder out there. Is that the kind of thing you mean? The rest is purely adult supervision i suspect.

Thanks,
Sarah

As Sarah says, many villas (especially those in the States) have to have alarms on patio doors which go off when the door is opened unless you push an internal button at a high level (can be a bit infuriating if there's no corresponding button on the outside, but hey, the price of safety). All the ones I booked through floridagoldhomes had these (around the Englewood/Rotunda/Venice areas of Florida). Most are also covered by mesh cages which keep the insects out and could be locked to stop your children wandering off, but then again you wouldn't leave them unsupervised by the pool anyway.

In France - legislation requires pools to be fenced off.

Not sure about other countries? Might be worth looking up the legislation for where you are planning to travel to.

Regards

Pat

Florida rental law requires that you have safety features for the swimming pool. The inspections are the same as any hotel and make sure the owners have both rental and hotel licences.

It must have either an Alarm as already mentioned or a safety fence, otherwise a licence will not be granted. We opted for the alarm in our villa as some adult renters do not like the fences obstructing easy pool access.

Our pool also has a full enclosed screen but the doors could not be opened by a child to escape!

Jilly

As Jilly mentioned about Florida law mandates you must have a pool fence or an Alarm. Until recently most had fences. I have seen more alarms cropping up recently. I personally have a fence. In my opinion your 2 five year old would not be able to remove or open the fence by themselves.

The Alarm will notify you when the pool patio doors have been opened generally if a high level switch has not been pressed.

So one works on the basis of alarming you to opening of the doors by 'short' people and the other works on stopping short and/or weak people from gaining access to the pool.

Please remember that if you opt for a villa with a fence that if you as parents choose to remove or open the fence that it is your responsibility for not adequately protecting your children from that point on.

Paul

We have a screen enclosed pool with the safety fencing. It would be difficult for a child to remove it, but at the end of the day it is down to parent supervision wherever you stay.

Karen

Thanks for the replies; I've learnt something I didn't know - that FL villa's require alarms for the pool areas. We're planning on an Orlando trip for the family next year, and this removes one of the concerns we had.

Is anyone aware of any companies who specialise in child-friendly villa's (as in my original post) in the Iberia/Med areas, as we'd like to take the girls there but I'm not aware that the same rules apply in France/Florida?

I'm sure we'll be booking one of the VF-advertised villa's next year.

Originally posted by vizbiz
Thanks for the replies; I've learnt something I didn't know - that FL villa's require alarms for the pool areas. We're planning on an Orlando trip for the family next year, and this removes one of the concerns we had.

Just so everyone is clear the ruling is that you EITHER must have an alarm OR a fence.

Paul

Originally posted by vizbiz
I couldn't get this in the Villa section, so I'm posting this here;

Does anyone know of any holiday co's or villa sites, villa's etc that are child-friendly in the sense of secure swimming pools - we have 2 five year-olds that we don't trust around a swimming pool as yet...

Thanks for any pointers.

Iglu Villas advertise most of their family villas having fenced or gated pools.
Iglu Villas Link
Hope This Helps
Wayne

Try cottages4you.They offer private villas with pools in Spain, France, Italy and Portugal. They seem to be catered for families so I am sure the pools will be child friendly.I think that they offer discounts if you are a member of the AA too.

All new builds with pools in Florida must have a hardwired alarm on all doors leading to the pool area and safety fence around the pool.

It's tragic reading the Orlando Sentinal or watching Local news the number of Kiddies who drown in pools in the Cantral Florida area.

Another problem in the solar blankets that are used to keep heat in during the winter months never put them back on the pool untill the kids have finished playing around the pool area in the evening and be sure you remove it right away in the morning or on your return to the home after a day at the parks.